Plum and Cinnamon Oven Crumble
- Sweet
- Oven
Jammy roasted plums under a buttery cinnamon crumb, baked until the edges bubble and the topping turns golden. A dense, rich crumble that needs nothing but a spoon.
- Total
- 68 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 43 · Rest 10
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Roasting
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 190°C. Cut the plums in half, twist out the stones and cut each half into 2 cm wedges.
~8 min
-
Toss the plums in the baking dish with 40 g of the sugar and half the cinnamon. Spread them in one even layer.
~3 min
The sugar draws juice from the plums and the even layer lets them roast evenly, so the fruit turns jammy rather than steaming.
Roasting Spread the fruit in a single even layer so it roasts rather than steams. Watch for bubbling juices at the dish edges as the cue that the filling is done.
-
Melt the butter gently in the oven in a heatproof bowl, about 5 minutes, then let it cool for 2 minutes so it does not cook the egg.
~7 min
Hot butter would scramble the egg on contact, so a short cool keeps the crumb smooth and clumpable.
-
Stir the flour, remaining 40 g sugar, remaining cinnamon and salt together in the mixing bowl. Add the melted butter and the egg and rub everything together with your fingertips until it forms coarse, damp clumps the size of peas.
~5 min
Rubbing with cool fingertips keeps the butter from melting too far, giving clumps that bake into crisp nuggets instead of a flat paste.
Squeeze a clump of the crumb in your fist before scattering it: if it holds together, it will bake into crisp nuggets; if it crumbles to dust, work in a teaspoon more melted butter.
-
Scatter the crumb evenly over the plums, leaving a few gaps so steam escapes. Bake until the topping is deep golden and the plum juices bubble at the edges, 30 to 35 minutes.
~35 min
The gaps let steam escape so the topping crisps rather than turning soggy, and bubbling edges show the filling is fully cooked.
If the crumb looks pale after 25 minutes, move the dish to the upper third of the oven for the last few minutes rather than raising the temperature, which would dry the plums.
Roasting Spread the fruit in a single even layer so it roasts rather than steams. Watch for bubbling juices at the dish edges as the cue that the filling is done.
-
Let the crumble stand for 10 minutes before serving so the juices settle and the topping firms up.
~10 min
Resting lets the juices thicken and reabsorb, so portions hold together instead of running across the plate.
